walsall game

[zenfootball]

another crunch game ,can Town rip up the form book again? whilst we badly need a win this game is against a team we struggle against and beat us 1-3 this season , but what do i know i did not think we had any chance against Gillingham.

"Interim boss Jon Whitney wants Walsall to man up against Shrewsbury after their biggest league defeat of the season". Dented pride and a desire to regain there momentum will other issues in the mind of Walsall.
who can hold there nerve and who can score first will be crucial issues in this game.
In MM interview after Gillingham he seem to say it was a deliberate strategy to sit back and absorb the pressure and score on the break.he is the expert but I would be concerned if he replicated that against Walsall town have a very static defense and Walsall have pace,they have very good distribution many of Bradshaw's goals have come from using his pace to run in the space to score from a diagonal ball,something town have failed to deal with on numerous occasions this season.

[matster]

To get through a game and Bradshaw not scoring would be a start!

Hopefully town will start brightly and Mellon has put out a team with some potential goal scorers in it.

[zenfootball]

JLAA fluffed a chance to put town ahead in the opening seconds, everyone knows that Walsall are a skilfull team with pace and a quality passing players, so allowing them so much time ,not closing there play maker was just suicidal and they payed the price in 11 minutes and town are on the back foot, we huffed and puffed and made no impact on this game , until the last few minutes and whilst we briefly pressed Walsall we did not create them any real problems when just before half time a sucker punch goal from a deflection 2-0.
i can only assume Black coming on so early was MM throwing plan A out.

town start the second half knowing who scores next is crucial and frankly town need a miracle to get a draw , MM threw everything at the second half with a double substitution this had an impact as town had more of a threat going forward, Saddler's goal put town back in the game and whilst Walsall wobbled from a Mangan shoot which forced a good save and Black's shoot via deflection hit the bar we could not get the vital equalizer.

to be honest i did not expect anything from this or the gillingham game so 3 points is 3 points more than i thought we would get, what was disappointing about the Walsall game , we paid the price for making such a poor start and in the second half we were unlucky not to get a draw.

so we now need a win at home considering how poor our home form is this will be more squeaky bottom time.

[zenfootball]

town deserve some credit for the way they got back in to the game and the way they played in the second half.
you can see why Walsall are chasing promotion and the big difference in the teams was the quality on the ball.
all credit to MM for putting his hand up to admit he had set the team up poorly , however you do have to ask why ? and what was he thinking? Walsall have a set way of playing and they dont change it .
to give a team who are good on the ball , who have pace who have very good distribution and a know play maker in Sawyer ,the space and time on the ball is just suicidal, Sawyers was virtually left to pull the strings, the commentator made a reference to this in the game as he orchestrated Walsall's win. i find it baffling that two successive games well know play makers were not closed down it is not rocket science silence the play maker reduces the supply.

getting nothing from this game may prove costly,however 3 points out of 6 against promotion chasing teams is more than i thought we would get.it leaves town chasing a result at home somthing we have struggled with all season, o the joys of been a town supporter.

[lazchamp]

I was feeling disappointed to lose at the end although at half time I was just hoping we wouldn't get a battering. But as you say, Zen, why did MM set the side up so badly to start with? It was the same against Bradford and he had to make a tactical substitution in the first half. At least MM can see quite early when he's cocked it up and he isn't afraid to admit it.

Anyway, plenty of time for analysis after the season is over. We are now set up for a nerve-jangling afternoon on Saturday. Peterborough have just lost their manager (poor old Graham Westley - couldn't happen to a nicer bloke) they have nothing to play for and their inspirational owner has told everyone at the club that their jobs are on the line in the summer. So we will either see a side fighting to show a bit of pride or one that couldn't really be arsed. Which one will it be?

As for Town... I really hope MM decides to have a go at them. I don't get this "sit back and hit them on the counter" plan of action. The defence isn't reliable enough for that to work for 90 minutes. We have to get at their back line. Whalley has to start. We have to win so that it doesn't matter whether Blackpool have won (they have a 12.30 kick off) and what Doncaster do (Fleetwood don't play till Monday). It should be a decent crowd and the away end won't be making all the noise hopefully. The weather forecast is great. I really, really hope we can end the home season with a flourish, get on the pitch (which does look absolutely fantastic) and wave goodbye to most of the squad a lot of whom will be looking for new clubs in the summer I expect!

[zenfootball]

I was feeling disappointed to lose at the end although at half time I was just hoping we wouldn't get a battering. But as you say, Zen, why did MM set the side up so badly to start with? It was the same against Bradford and he had to make a tactical substitution in the first half. At least MM can see quite early when he's cocked it up and he isn't afraid to admit it.

Anyway, plenty of time for analysis after the season is over. We are now set up for a nerve-jangling afternoon on Saturday. Peterborough have just lost their manager (poor old Graham Westley - couldn't happen to a nicer bloke) they have nothing to play for and their inspirational owner has told everyone at the club that their jobs are on the line in the summer. So we will either see a side fighting to show a bit of pride or one that couldn't really be arsed. Which one will it be?

As for Town... I really hope MM decides to have a go at them. I don't get this "sit back and hit them on the counter" plan of action. The defence isn't reliable enough for that to work for 90 minutes. We have to get at their back line. Whalley has to start. We have to win so that it doesn't matter whether Blackpool have won (they have a 12.30 kick off) and what Doncaster do (Fleetwood don't play till Monday). It should be a decent crowd and the away end won't be making all the noise hopefully. The weather forecast is great. I really, really hope we can end the home season with a flourish, get on the pitch (which does look absolutely fantastic) and wave goodbye to most of the squad a lot of whom will be looking for new clubs in the summer I expect!

i share your concerns lazchamp about the wisdom of sitting back
Whalley had an impact because he attacked you go two down you have the choices of either going for damage limitation or go for it, we dont have the luxury of damage limitation